Febvre

This most interesting and unusual surname is of Old French origin, and is a variant of the French surname "Fevre", itself an occupational name for an iron-worker or a smith, from the Old French "febre", a smith (from the Latin "faber", a craftsman). The surname, which is first recorded in the mid 13th Century (see below), is also found in the modern idiom as Febvre, Febre and Faivre in France, and as Feaviour, Lefe(a)ver, and Faber, in England. Job descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname itself was introduced into Britain by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. One Abraham le Febre is recorded in the Essex Feet of Fines in 1248. Among the recordings of the name in London Church Registers are the christenings of Elizabeth, daughter of John and Elizabeth Feaver, at Holy Trinity in the Minories, on August 31st 1623, and of Thomas, son of Peter Feaver, at St. Olave's, Southwark, on December 20th 1663. One Robert Feaver was an early settler in the New World Colonies; he is recorded on a list of owners of land in St. Michael's parish, in the Barbadoes, in 1680. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger le Fevere, which was dated 1243, witness in the "Assize Rolls of Somersetshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.